The Rightful Ending
by AngelicIncubus
Summary: "Pity the puppet who ignores their strings", he began, "but fear the one who notices them."


**Chapter 1: The Rightful Ending**

"I'll do it!" Madara, crashed down onto the ground with an exclamation. The infinite Tsukuyomi was complete, now all he had to do was get rid of the vermin on the ground who were standing in the way of everyone's happiness. He had one other loose end to tie up as well, but he'd wait and see if the fool made a move.

"As the savior of this world, it's only right that I am the one to snuff out your feeble attempts at resistance. Rest assured, once you're gone, this world shall not know strife the way it has. No one will ever have to suffer the way you all have suffered... the way I have suffered." Madara's tone wavered ever so slightly, still haunted by the deaths of his family. He chastised himself silently, why was he still holding on the the ghosts of the past? He had come so far and accomplished so much, why was he still burdened? Perhaps it was because one of the people whom opposed him was a descendant of his?

Sasuke was not only an Uchiha, no, he and Madara were related by much more than distant blood ties. Sasuke was nearly identical to Izuna, his younger brother, in appearance. He far surpassed him in power, but looks were a hard thing to get past. On top of this, one could even say that he and Madara were the same person, theoretically. Not quite clones of each other, but their essence was no different, being that they were reincarnations of the same person. They each had distinct appearances, powers, mannerisms, and everything in between, but at their core, they were made of the same thing.

"I won't let that happen!" Naruto barked out, defiant to the last. He reminded Madara of Hashirama, to a fault almost. Except, there was one key difference. The way he looked at Sasuke was the same way Madara had looked at his own brothers. A gaze filled with compassion and familial love he had not seen in anyone else besides himself. Begrudgingly, he _respected _Naruto for this unwavering determination, naive it may be. Hashirama had given up on him, killed him even. Naruto did not seem as if he knew how to give up, and the power he wielded at the moment was a testament to that iron will, even stronger than Hashirama before him. Still, he had to get rid of them. A savior is one who makes the toughest decisions and has to sacrifice the most, after all. In another lifetime, they might have even been... friends.

"You're just a relic of the past, no different from everyone who's come before you. You'll die here and fade into the obscurity of time, Madara." Sasuke was not as loud and exclamatory as Naruto, but his statement came across with much more venom. Madara also respected Sasuke, as he could see the same flame raging in his eyes as his own. He had no doubt Sasuke had plans of his own to reform the ninja world, but they would not come to fruition.

Done reflecting and reminiscing, Madara began to laugh. It was subdued at first, then slowly crescendoed into the maniacal laugh of a madman. The four in front of him were taken aback by this, not knowing what else he had up his sleeve.

"It appears that you all do not understand the gravity of your situation. I have already won, you all are just cleanup. Zetsu!"

"Yes, Lord Madara?" Black Zetsu was currently in control of Obito's body, keeping him alive.

"This will be your final mission. Help me dispose of them."

"Yes, Lord Madara", Zetsu replied, but with a devious smirk played out on his face. He began to walk towards Madara, intent on revealing to him that he had been played for the fool all this time. He stretched his hand out, intent on stabbing him in the back and completing the resuscitation of his mother, Kaguya Otsutsuki.

This betrayal would not come to pass, however.

Madara turned around, transforming his staff into a rod, and swung it, piercing the part of Obito's body that Black Zetsu had taken residence on.

"M-Madara-sama!?" Zetsu screamed out, having been struck by the sharp rod as well as Obito. Did he find out!? How!?

"You tried to take my back. I believe I've already told you, there is no one who can do such a thing." Madara was outwardly proud that that old saying still held true. Even when Hashirama backstabbed him, he had not been unprepared. That he was here now was proof of his claim.

The Konoha nin that stood in front of him were shocked. Wasn't Zetsu supposed to be his will? Why was he attacking him? Had the power driven him mad? These questions, along with many more, abound in their heads in a chaotic symphony. They just could not figure out this maniac.

"H-how did you find out, you wretch!?" Zetsu spoke, pain and suffering evident in his gruff tone.

"Pity the puppet who ignores their strings", he began, "but fear the one who notices them", he finished with a feral grin. Madara was amused that this black glob could have the gall to think that he was manipulating him. Did he not know who... or rather, _what _he was? He began speaking again, this time with a bit more swagger in his voice.

"You see, Zetsu, I'm not one to trust easily. Whatever plan you had, you made a misstep from the very beginning." He spat out Zetsu's name with disdain, making the black humanoid recoil in fear. Madara went on chastising him.

"Did you think I could not tell what was and wasn't of my creation? That I was so incompetent, that I wouldn't notice in my old age that I did nothing to manifest you? You may have strung that fool Obito around, but I am much more than a singular person." Zetsu's singular eye widened, cursing his negligence. The rod was still lodged in his side, as well as Obito's. He was trapped, and in a very bad situation.

"Madara Uchiha is more than just one being. Madara is an ideal, a dream... and I'll be damned to the darkest pits of hell before I let anyone, especially someone as powerless as you, trample on that dream." Madara pushed the rod deeper into Obito, and in turn, into Zetsu, eliciting a pained scream from the black glob.

"Damnit, I was so close... I've failed you, mother." Zetsu had failed at his one mission in life, the one mission his mother had given him. Never did he think that one of his pawns would figure him out so thoroughly So arrogant and self-assured was he, that he had not bothered to come up with a contingency. This was his folly in Madara's eyes. He had no power, yet pretended to be the one who was pulling all the strings. Without power, all else was meaningless. You couldn't make anything happen, you couldn't make dreams into a reality. Perhaps this mother of his had that type of power, but it didn't matter now.

"You can sulk and lament your stupidity in hell. Farewell, Zetsu." Madara made hand-signs with one hand, preparing to finish him off. No more words were needed to make him understand the depths of his foolishness. Madara had done him a kindness. If a mere fragment of will could be reincarnated, he would not be so foolish as to try to control him in his next life.

"Fire style, Great Fire Annihilation!" His jutsu spewed out, engulfing Zetsu and Obito's body in a wall of flames. Pained screams could be heard from the fire, no doubt coming from the abomination attached to Obito, as Obito himself was hardly even conscious. When the flames settled, there was nothing to be seen except for a pile of ashes.

Zetsu was dead. As was Obito.

Team 7 couldn't make a move throughout any of this, as they lacked the information to do so. If he was just playing possum, he could've killed any of them had they gotten to close or made a careless error. They were fighting a god for all intents and purposes, caution was a necessity.

"He... he killed Obito", Naruto stammered. Naruto had no particular attachment to Obito, but he respected him for trying to turn his life around and atone for his sins, even at the very last moments. Madara had gone and killed him in cold blood though, his own protege. This made Naruto's blood boil. Cruelty never sat well with him.

Sasuke had no outward reaction. Obito never mattered to him outside of helping him achieve his goals, and the same was true now. Death was omnipresent in the ninja world, it did not affect him as it once did.

Kakashi closed his eyes in silent mourning. The Obito that he knew had just come back to them, and his life was ended unceremoniously. He had resolved to kill him himself not too long ago, but his change of heart made him reconsider. He only hoped that Rin gave him the chance that he deserved all those years ago before he was corrupted. Obito, as much as it pained him, was probably going to hell. Kakashi himself had been in purgatory and met his father, and there are jutsu that tamper with the dead, so he knew that there was an afterlife. He just hoped that Obito, as in life, would get a moment of bliss before an eternity of hell.

Sakura was sad. She held no feelings for Obito and considered him an enemy overall, but the loss of life was something she could never quite cope with. It was a big reason she became a medic nin, besides her wanting to catch up with her teammates.

Madara turned back to team 7, content that he had gotten rid of two birds with one stone. Zetsu was a fool and Obito was a pest. Destroying the both of them ensured that no further interruptions were to be had, no further obstacles to his dream (and everyone else's) other than the one's right in front of him.

"Now that I've gotten them out of the way, what say you all to finishing up what we had already started?" Madara smirked, tensing up just as team 7 did.

"Yes, the rightful ending to this tale of shinobi."


End file.
